Love without Complications
by xopen-widex
Summary: Short three-set story taken after Should I stay or Should I go. Shows how Craig, Ashley, and Manny are each handling the situation.
1. Take on the World

**Love without Complications**

The wind blew furiously as he trekked down the street, head pointed to the ground, hands jammed into pockets. It was twenty-five degrees out, not an abnormal temperature in Canada, but still frightfully cold. You'd think the Canadians would be used to the frigid climate, but still every winter it surprised them and chilled them to the bone. He turned the corner and power-walked down the side street. It was so cold and all he could think about was a nice cup of coffee, or cider, or cocoa, or something. Anything at all, just to keep him away from the cold. Oh, how he _despised_ winter. He didn't do well with cold, it annoyed him to the point of wanting to scream and rip his hair out. It seemed like everything these days annoyed him, ever since....

He didn't like thinking about what happen in December. It was Mid-February, now, and he just wanted to forget of the huge mistake he made. He climbed up the stairs and fiddled with the lock. It clicked open and he burst in to find Angela, his little sister, playing quietly on the floor while Caitlin, his soon-to-be stepmother, typed rapidly at her laptop.

"Craig!" Angela cried and jumped up to run to him.

"Hey, Angela." He leaned down and picked up her, still shivering from the cold.

"Why are you shivery, Craig?" Angela asked.

"Me and the cold don't get along." Craig smirked and put her down. He took off his gloves as he walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, Craig. How was your day?" Caitlin asked, not looking up.

"Lovely." He muttered and found some coffee. It was cold from sitting in the pot all day. "Deeelish." He mumbled and thrust it into the microwave for thirty seconds. His day wasn't the most delightful of days and he wasn't in the most delightful of moods....

He took the coffee out into the garage and sat down on one of the milk cartons he had about. This Christmas sucked and it was his fault. He had two amazing girls, each madly in love with him, and he ruined it.

_Why did I lie_, he thought to himself as he sipped his stale coffee. _It's not like I was desperate or anything, I could have had any girl in Degrassi, But I screwed up_. He sighed. He loved Ashley, but Manny....Manny was just tantalizing. She was the zest in his day. He was in love with Manny...he was rather...in Lust with her. She was so sexy, so beautiful...but she had the personality of a Rock. Who really cared what the newest style was, or who was seeing who. What really caught his attention was artistic talent, music...stuff that the gorgeous Ashley Kerwin liked and had. He loved Ashley, he even believed she was going to be with him for quite a while. He wanted her for so long; she was so out of reach, so exotic. He never had someone quite as entrancing as her, but now he lost her. Apparently, from what he heard, not only did he loose her, but she was loosing herself. The breakup was harder on her then he expected; she was supposedly so horribly depressed these days. And he felt horrible. If only she took it as well as Manny seemed to.

He finished up his coffee and looked around the garage. _Maybe I should have band practice some time soon_, he thought.

"...nah." He thought aloud and headed home to go sleep for a few hours.


	2. I'm not okay

**Love without Complications**

**Chapter Two**: I'm not okay

Ashley sighed. The black eyeliner was burning her eyes, but she kinda liked it. It expressed her pain, her misery. The misery that that jerk Craig Manning did to her. And that slut, Manny, didn't help either.

God, she was so pissed she didn't know what to do. She ate ice, crunching on it hard. She punched her pillow till it was permanently pushed down in the middle. She kicked her bed, she screamed at the top of her lungs, she wrote, she wrote, she wrote. But she still couldn't get over it.

He ruined her life. And that's why she hated him. She dedicated herself to him, she even gave him her grandfather's beloved guitar! Ashley loved Craig, she really did. And she really needed this – after all, her relationships really haven't been the best. Besides, why should she let Manny have him. After all, she was just a grade nine. She hardly knew what was going on, probably. She probably still lived in her world of plushies and cute things, like bunnies. Ick, bunnies. Bunnies meant happiness and that was one thing Ashley hadn't had in a while. 

So she decided to go back to her goth ways. Why not, lay around writing angsty poetry that described her inner pain. In fact, she even came up with this little diddy just yesterday :

**Misery claws at my skin**

**Every night**

**And Every day**

**Why, oh why,**

**Am I still suffering**

**From the pains of this**

**Mortal life.**

Yeah, she was depressed. And she couldn't do anything about it. At least she fit in with Ellie a bit better.


	3. Love me like I want you to

**Love without Complications**

**Chapter Three**: Love me like I want you to

Manny walked fast down the street. Her breath came out in clouds of smoke and her hands were numb. It was absolutely freezing out and it didn't help that she was having a panic attack. All she wanted to do was get home before the tears in her eyes began to freeze. That would suck – ice in her eyes. Ouch.

She picked up the pace and began to run. She needed to get home, she needed to get away from the cold. And she needed to get away from Degrassi. Why did she ever let herself fall for Craig Manning? She ruined a perfect relationship for Ashley, something she really needed.** Hah**! She didn't _deserve_ it, the ungrateful bitch, Manny thought bitterly. She broke the hearts of quite a few boys already – Jimmy, Sean, who knows who else. And she was after Craig, her Craig. Manny wasn't going to stand for that. Craig was hers and hers alone, not Ashley's, not anyone's._ Hers_.

But now that everything was done and over with - relationships lost, friendships broken, reputations gained – there was nothing left to do. Except, try to get over it. From the way Ashley was taking it, it wasn't that easy. Actually, it seemed too difficult to even think about it. And the sad thing is Manny was feeling ten times as worse. She was depressed beyond anything and she was feeling so hopeless. What was she to do – run to her friends? What friends, they all left her after they realized she was a _skank_. Why be friends with someone who sleeps around, when you can be friends with _Emma Nelson_, Degrassi's star student. Straight A's, perfect daughter, activist in training, caring friend. Everything Manny wasn't. Great. More competition, just the thing she needed.

It seemed like every day after school she'd trudge home to an empty house – mother out somewhere, father hardly ever home, older sister at boyfriend's. She had nothing to really look forward to, except maybe seeing Craig's face in the hallways at school. Just the thought of him still sent shivers down her spine. She loved him, she _loved_ him.

"But why can't he love me!?" she cried into her pillow every night.

It just wasn't fair.


End file.
